Guys a complex one:

My wife's friend from High School recently got married to his fiancee, who came here on an F1 Visa in 2001.

However, he married his wife after filing for his Naturalization papers, just fresh from his interview. His timeline: Application to SC: Dec 2005, FP Feb 2005, Interview March, 2006, and he was hoping to be naturalized in June, so he married his fiancee in JUNE. However, he got stucked in the terrible name check like most people do. So, he is now finally being given an appt for oath ceremony in Dec 2006.

His concerns: his wife has been out of status for 18 months, and is concerned that she might be deported, because the letter which USCIS sends requires proof of marriage if you are now married since the last interview of your naturalization process. So, he has been married since June and YES he intends to provide the marriage certificate and copies. He is worried that once the immigration officials get hold of the certificate they might run a check on the status of his wife and find that she is a visa overstayer and put HOLD his naturalization until they find what is going on with his case. He considering sending his wife out of town for a week, until he is sure that after his naturalization (IF IS OCCURS), the ICE don't show up and take his wife away. Also, he thinking of not taking his wife to the oath ceremony cause the i'm officials might easily detain her.

Has anyone on this discussion board experience this?


Guys... I am not an expert on such complex cases, so you who have more knowledge, please offer me something to relay to him. I will copy all of your responses and send to him.

Advise your Friend to seek help from a good immigration lawyer... this is not the place for such complex situations...

Kezzie

That's nonsense. We should be able to entertain all family immigration questions.

Al Southner,
Don't really worry about ICE. They usually don't do personal raids of the sort you are describing. They are more interested in people who are evading removal proceedings or have been picked up by local law enforcement.

And, even if she was picked up by ICE, you will have a chance at a bond hearing to get her out. Has your friend filed an I-130 for his out of status wife? He should do so as soon as possible. Once he becomes a USC he can contact the service center to upgrade his petition. There is case law on point which states that immigration judges (assuming the wife gets picked up now), will stall the proceedings until the I-130 is approved. And ironically, if she was to get picked up, the immigration judges would have jurisdiction over the case and actually adjudicate an I-485 a whole lot faster than USCIS.
He might want to contact an immigration attorney about his own N-400. I have not heard of stalling petitions to check the spouse's status.

As long as his wife doesn't have other issues like a criminal record or other grounds of inadmissibility / deportability, simply being out of status or working illegally will be forgiven upon marriage to a USC, which her husband will probably be in December.

My advise to anyone who has a complex situation is they should seek help from an immigration lawyer.... I am sorry if you feel that this advise is nonsense... but I would not try to offer advice on this topic as it would be best for the OP to advise his friend to have someone go over the whole situation in detail and give advice based on that.... not what some people might think might or might not happen....



Kezzie

Satellite,

Thanks for your response. He didn't know the complexities of petition for her. So, he was told by people that should he file for an I-130 now, it will take yrs to be approved and better wait till he's a citizen. My wife tells me that his wife is clean, never committed any crime or evaded any removal proceedings hearing. So, he is just concerned that he may not be able to complete his citizenship oath because of her immigration status. His wife has an undergrad degree in Biomedical Engineering, top of her class at Columbia Univ. She married this guy because they are like minded, love each other and hope to accomplish a lot together, but now he is really concerned about what might happen to his love life. Also, once her paperwork is straight, she wants to pursue a bio-tech graduate degree.


Kezzie, if you have nothing to say or contribute, it is better to save your energy rather offer a foolhardy response as you did.

I don't know what to suggest for your friend's situation, and I would guess probably a lot of people aren't real familiar with the particulars involved in your friend's situation. Therefore, I actually think Kezzie's advice to consult with an immigration attorney is a good idea. It doesn't have to be expensive, and your friend will know that he's getting good information. Tomorrow at 11 am Central Time have him join Laurel Scott's chat at www.visacentral.net. She is a really good attorney and very knowledgable.

I did have something to say your friend should consult with an immigration lawyer.... sorry if you think that advise is foolhardy... and maybe your friend is happy to make life changing dessions based on onthe the word of a few people on an internet forum.... Giving help on general immigration processes and how things work out in reality is very diffrent from giving the kind of advice you appear to be looking for...



But hey good luck..



Kezzie

Kezzie,
You misunderstood me. I was only upset about your suggestion that VJ should be limited to certain kinds of questions and cases. Just because a lot of members might only be familiar with a straight foreword G325A, I-130, etc... doesn't mean other questions should be precluded. Seeing an immigration attorney is good advice no matter what the question is. Why if you didn't know how to answer question #9 on the I-129F you could go see an immigration attorney, right?

This is correct, except that, as I mentioned in my prior post, his naturalization will allow him to upgrade his petition to immediate relative which takes just a few months to process.

That is something worth asking an immigration attorney, but I don't think her or she will know. Besides experience or inside connections it is generally difficult to figure out the exact internal procedure followed by the USCIS. There are occasional public memos, regulations, and cables sent out, but I don't think they would touch on this detailed of a question.

Heina,

Thanks for the advise.

I went to the forum on that website which you suggested, and was able to get some good advise on what my wife's friend should do. Key issues:

His naturalization oath ceremony will go on without any issues. However, wife should not come to the ceremony. Immediately, after his ceremony, file all the papers to the Chicago Lockbox and make her legal.
The USCIS won't quizz or hold her naturalization oath because of her status, this is an irrelevant part of the process.

I am going to advise him to complete all the necessary paperwork,SIGN, so that once he is done, make copy of his certificate and send the package to chicago overnight. This is better, so that should ICE make a midnight hour arrest, he is able to rescue his wife. I-485 will kill govt removal proceedings, so she will be fine.

My wife and I will be attending his ceremony, and will shed light on other aspect of this case once he's done.

Thanks to all you all who view my topic and offered help. My wife will be happy to hear this side of the story, and I will have a good night....